Visiting Myanmar, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov To Meet With Military Regime Leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru)

JAKARTA - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Myanmar on Wednesday, TASS news agency reported, marking one of the most high-profile visits to the Southeast Asian country since the military seized power in a coup last year.

Citing Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova, TASS said that Lavrov was expected to hold talks with Myanmar's Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin and meet with military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in the capital Naypyitaw.

The talks are expected to include discussions covering trade and economic cooperation, as well as defense, security and humanitarian relations, Zakharova said.

Myanmar's military regime has faced isolation and sanctions from many Western countries since toppling the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a February 1, 2021 coup and launching a bloody crackdown on dissent.

However, relations with Russia remain friendly and earlier this month Russia's Defense Ministry said the two countries would deepen defense cooperation, after Senior General Min Aung Hlaing traveled to Moscow.

It is known that Russia has supplied the junta with drones, two types of fighter jets and two types of armored vehicles, one with an air defense system, Thomas Andrews, the UN human rights expert on Myanmar, said in February.

In addition, Lavrov will go to Cambodia after a visit to Myanmar to attend a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and hold a number of bilateral meetings, Zakharova said.

As previously reported, Russia and Myanmar have again underlined plans to strengthen cooperation and military technicalities between the two countries, the Defense Ministry said after the visit of military regime leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

"On July 11, senior officials of the Russian Ministry of Defense held a meeting with the Chairman of the Myanmar State Administration Council and the Supreme Commander of the Myanmar Defense Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who arrived in Russia on a personal visit," the ministry said, TASS reported.

Despite criticism, Russia has maintained ties to the military regime. Last year, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Colonel General Alexander Fomin at the Commemoration of the Myanmar Armed Forces Day in March 2021.

Russia, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that sanctions imposed by various parties against the Myanmar military regime related to the coup would be futile, very dangerous and encourage civil war.